Terms of Service
These Terms of Service are the agreement between Mountain Services of Idaho LLC, doing business as Express Desk, and the newspaper or publishing business that signs up to use Express Desk. By creating an account, starting a free trial or paying for a plan, you agree to these Terms.
1. Who we are and who you are
1.1 Express Desk is advertising sales, production and billing software for newspapers and publishers, provided by Mountain Services of Idaho LLC, an Idaho limited liability company ("Express Desk", "we", "us").
1.2 You means the business that creates the account ("Customer", "you"). The person who signs up confirms that they have authority to accept these Terms for that business.
1.3 These Terms apply to business use only. Express Desk is not offered to consumers for personal, family or household use.
2. Definitions
- Service: the Express Desk website, web application, related tools and support we provide.
- Users: the people you allow to use the Service under your account, such as your staff and contractors.
- Customer Data: everything you or your Users put into the Service, including advertiser accounts, contacts, orders, ad copy, legal notices, proofs, files, invoices and payments.
- Active Advertiser: an advertiser account with at least one invoice dated in the previous 90 days, as described in section 6.
- Plan: the subscription level you choose, such as Weekly, Regional or Group, with the limits and price shown on our pricing page when you subscribe.
3. Accounts and users
3.1 You must give accurate information when you sign up and keep it current.
3.2 The person who creates the account is the account owner. The account owner and anyone they make an administrator can add and remove Users and change roles and permissions.
3.3 Plans include an unlimited number of Users. Each User must have their own login. Logins may not be shared.
3.4 You are responsible for everything done under your account, for your Users following these Terms, and for keeping passwords secure. Tell us right away at support@expressdesk.net if you believe your account has been accessed without permission.
4. Free trial
4.1 New customers may use the Service free for 14 days. No payment method is required to start a trial.
4.2 At the end of the trial, you can choose a paid Plan to keep using the Service. If you don't, your account becomes read-only. We keep your trial data for 30 days so you can choose a Plan or export it, and then we may delete it.
4.3 We may change, extend or end free trial offers at any time. During a trial the Service is provided as-is, without the support and availability commitments in section 13.
5. Plans and fees
5.1 You pay the fee for the Plan you choose, monthly or yearly, at the price shown when you subscribe. Plans differ by the number of Active Advertisers they allow. Every Plan includes unlimited Users and publications.
5.2 Optional services, such as done-for-you setup, are billed once at the price shown when you order them.
5.3 We may change our prices. A price change applies to you only at your next renewal, and we will tell you at least 30 days before it takes effect.
6. Active Advertisers and plan limits
6.1 The Service counts Active Advertisers automatically every day. An advertiser account counts if it has at least one invoice, that is a billed and non-void order with an invoice number, dated within the previous 90 days. Prospects, past advertisers, unbilled orders, balances and finance charges do not count.
6.2 Your Plan & billing page shows your current count, the advertisers being counted and a daily record of past counts. That record is the basis for any question about your count.
6.3 If your count goes over your Plan's limit, the Service keeps working. We will notify you, and if you are still over the limit 30 days later, we may move you to the smallest Plan that fits your count, starting with your next billing period.
6.4 You may not split one business into several accounts, route invoices through a single house account, or otherwise structure your billing to stay under a Plan's limit.
7. Billing, renewal and refunds
7.1 Payments are processed by Stripe. You can pay by card or bank transfer (ACH). Yearly Plans may also be invoiced and paid by ACH or check within 30 days.
7.2 Plans renew automatically at the end of each monthly or yearly period until you cancel. You authorize us to charge your payment method for each renewal.
7.3 Upgrades take effect right away, and we charge the prorated difference for the rest of your period. Downgrades take effect at your next renewal.
7.4 If a payment fails, we will retry it and let you know. If it is still unpaid 14 days after the due date, we may make your account read-only until it is paid. We will not delete your data for non-payment without the notice described in section 9.
7.5 Fees are non-refundable, except where required by law or where we end the Service for a reason other than your breach, in which case we refund any prepaid fees for the unused part of your period.
8. Taxes
8.1 Prices do not include taxes. You are responsible for any sales, use, value-added or similar taxes that apply to your purchase, other than taxes on our income.
8.2 Where the law requires us to collect a tax from you, we will add it to your invoice. Whether tax applies depends on where you use the Service; you agree to give us an accurate business address and to tell us if it changes. If you are tax-exempt, upload your exemption certificate in the Business & taxes section of the Service and keep it current. We apply the exemption once a valid certificate is on file.
9. Your data
9.1 You own your Customer Data. We claim no ownership of it.
9.2 You give us permission to store, copy, process and display Customer Data only as needed to provide, secure, support and improve the Service, and as required by law. We do not sell Customer Data, and we do not use it to market to your advertisers.
9.3 You can export your Customer Data to spreadsheet files at any time while your account is active or read-only.
9.4 After your account ends, you have 30 days to export your Customer Data. After that, we will delete it from the Service within 90 days, except for copies in backups, which are overwritten on their normal schedule, and records we must keep by law. We will not delete your data for non-payment without first emailing the account owner at least 14 days ahead.
9.5 We may use aggregated information that does not identify you, your advertisers or any person, such as overall usage counts, to run and improve the Service.
10. Privacy and security
10.1 We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect Customer Data, including encrypted connections and access controls that keep each customer's data separate.
10.2 Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information about you and your Users. It is part of these Terms.
10.3 You decide what personal information about your advertisers, subscribers and the public you put into the Service. You are responsible for having the right to collect and use it and for following the privacy laws that apply to you.
10.4 Do not store payment card numbers, bank account numbers, government ID numbers or health information in the Service's notes or text fields. Payments made through Express Desk are handled by our payment processor, not stored by us.
10.5 If we learn of unauthorized access to your Customer Data, we will notify you without undue delay and tell you what we know and what we are doing about it.
11. Acceptable use
You and your Users will not:
- use the Service to break any law, or to store or send content that is unlawful, defamatory, fraudulent or infringes someone else's rights;
- send spam or unsolicited bulk messages through the Service;
- try to get into another customer's data, test or bypass our security, or interfere with the Service's operation;
- copy, resell, rent or offer the Service to others, or use it to run a service for publications you do not own or manage, unless your Plan allows it;
- reverse engineer the Service, except where the law allows it despite this limit;
- use bots, scrapers or automated tools that put an unreasonable load on the Service.
We may remove content or suspend access that breaks this section. Where we reasonably can, we will tell you first and give you a chance to fix it.
12. Your ads, legal notices and publication decisions
12.1 Express Desk is a tool. You decide what you sell, publish, price, invoice and file, and you are responsible for those decisions and for the content of every ad, classified, obituary and legal notice you handle with the Service.
12.2 Legal notices, affidavits of publication, proofs, page layouts, line counts, rate calculations and similar outputs are produced from the information and settings you enter. You are responsible for checking them before you publish, bill or file them, and for meeting every legal requirement that applies to public notices in your state, including publication dates, the number of insertions, qualification of your newspaper and affidavit wording.
12.3 Proof approvals, e-signatures and approval records in the Service document what your customers and signers did. We do not guarantee that a particular approval or electronic signature is valid or enforceable for your purpose. You are responsible for deciding which documents may be signed electronically, including whether a court or agency accepts an electronically signed affidavit and whether a notarization is required.
12.4 You are responsible for your contracts and dealings with your advertisers, subscribers and the public, including what you charge them, how you collect it, and any refunds or credits.
13. Support and availability
13.1 We provide support through the Report a Problem button in the Service and by email at support@expressdesk.net. We answer during normal business hours, Mountain Time. Some Plans include added support, such as a guided setup call or priority handling, as described on our pricing page.
13.2 We work to keep the Service available around the clock, but we do not promise any particular uptime. The Service may be unavailable during maintenance, which we try to schedule outside press hours, and because of events beyond our control.
14. Third-party services
14.1 The Service runs on services from other companies, including Google Firebase for hosting and data storage, Stripe for payments, and OpenSign for electronic signatures. Your use of payment features is also subject to Stripe's terms, and your use of e-signature features is also subject to OpenSign's terms. If you connect your own OpenSign account, your agreement with OpenSign governs that account and any signature credits it uses.
14.2 The Service can work with other products you choose to use, such as Adobe InDesign, email programs and spreadsheets. We do not control those products and are not responsible for them.
15. Changes to the Service and these Terms
15.1 We improve the Service regularly and may add, change or remove features. We will not make a change that materially reduces the core features of your paid Plan during the period you have already paid for.
15.2 We may update these Terms. If a change is material, we will tell the account owner by email or in the Service at least 30 days before it takes effect. If you keep using the Service after that date, the new Terms apply. If you don't agree, you may cancel before the change takes effect and we will refund any prepaid fees for the unused part of your period.
16. Intellectual property
16.1 We and our licensors own the Service, including its software, design, documentation and the Express Desk name and logo. These Terms give you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the Service for your own business during your subscription. We keep all other rights.
16.2 Your newspaper's name, logo and content remain yours. You let us display them inside your account, and, only with your written permission, in our customer lists or marketing.
16.3 If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them without owing you anything.
17. Confidentiality
Each of us may see the other's non-public business information, such as your Customer Data, rates and advertiser lists, or our non-public product plans and pricing. Each of us will use the other's confidential information only to carry out these Terms, protect it with reasonable care, and share it only with people who need it for that purpose and are bound to keep it confidential. This does not cover information that is public, already known, independently developed, or received from someone else without a duty of confidence, or information that the law or a court requires us to disclose, after notice to the other party where allowed.
18. Disclaimers
EXCEPT AS STATED IN THESE TERMS, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, WE DISCLAIM ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT PROMISE THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ITS CALCULATIONS, LAYOUTS, LEGAL NOTICE OUTPUTS OR REPORTS WILL BE FREE OF MISTAKES.
19. Limitation of liability
19.1 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, NEITHER PARTY WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST ADVERTISING, MISSED OR INCORRECT PUBLICATION, LOSS OF DATA, OR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, EVEN IF TOLD THEY WERE POSSIBLE.
19.2 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, EACH PARTY'S TOTAL LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS IS LIMITED TO THE FEES YOU PAID US FOR THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT THAT GAVE RISE TO THE CLAIM.
19.3 These limits do not apply to your obligation to pay fees, to either party's breach of section 17, to your obligations under section 20, or to liability that cannot be limited by law.
20. Indemnification
You will defend us and hold us harmless against claims by third parties, and pay resulting costs, damages and reasonable attorneys' fees, to the extent the claim arises from your Customer Data, the ads, notices and other content you publish, your dealings with your advertisers, subscribers or the public, or your breach of section 11 or 12. We will notify you promptly of any such claim, let you control the defense, and cooperate at your expense. You may not settle a claim in a way that admits fault for us or binds us without our written consent.
21. Term and termination
21.1 These Terms start when you create an account and last until your account ends.
21.2 You can cancel at any time from Plan & billing or by emailing support@expressdesk.net. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current paid period, and you keep access until then.
21.3 We may suspend or end your account if you materially breach these Terms and do not fix the breach within 14 days after we notify you, or right away if the breach puts the Service, other customers or the public at serious risk, or if the law requires it. We may also stop offering the Service entirely with at least 90 days' notice and a refund of prepaid fees for the unused part of your period.
21.4 When your account ends, your right to use the Service ends, and section 9.4 applies to your Customer Data. Sections 8, 9.4, 12, 16 through 20, 22 and 23 continue after the account ends.
22. Governing law and disputes
22.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Idaho, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules.
22.2 Before filing any claim, each of us agrees to try to resolve the dispute informally by contacting the other in writing and talking in good faith for at least 30 days.
22.3 Any lawsuit about these Terms or the Service must be brought in the state courts located in Blaine County, Idaho, or the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, and each of us consents to their jurisdiction.
23. General terms
- Entire agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy and any order you place with us are the whole agreement between us about the Service. If an order form signed by both of us conflicts with these Terms, the order form controls for that order.
- Assignment. You may not transfer these Terms without our written consent, except to a buyer of all or substantially all of your newspaper business. We may transfer them to a successor to our business.
- Notices. We send notices to the account owner's email address or inside the Service. You send notices to support@expressdesk.net.
- Force majeure. Neither of us is responsible for delays caused by events beyond reasonable control, such as natural disasters, power or internet outages, or failures of our hosting providers.
- Independent parties. We are independent contractors. These Terms do not create a partnership, employment or agency relationship.
- Severability and waiver. If a court finds part of these Terms unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Not enforcing a right is not a waiver of it.
24. Contact
Mountain Services of Idaho LLC, doing business as Express Desk
expressdesk.net